Bittersweet Shimmer
by in a little house by the sea
Summary: Kagami realizes life has more colours after the reunion with Aomine and Kuroko.
1. Hikari

**© Kuroko no Basuke**

**Bittersweet Shimmer**

_—continuous drabbles of an idiotic love story  
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><p>Kagami Taiga was walking under the shady trees lining the Meguro River, his eyes to his cell phone.<p>

It was sliding into July in Tokyo and the temperature was heating up, and so Kagami chose a simple white t-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans to accommodate to the scorching heat.

Kuroko Tetsuya, his former shadow back in Seirin days, had emailed him to come over to his workplace—a European styled coffee house called 'Hikari'. Kagami reckoned he should pay his best friend a visit to catch up on each other's news since he had some free time. He'd lost touch with all his old friends after the graduation. To be honest, Kagami had felt relief to hear Kuroko's soft voice whispering into the phone again after being separated for so long.

Looking up from his cell phone, Kagami saw the coffee house. He crossed the few feet, just to a spot by one of the high window glasses. He peered into the coffee house through the clear window and could see that some tables filled by students, but they had their heads down as they were scribbling away in their books.

_Student life,_ he smiled at the thought. Kagami went to the door.

When the wind-bells tinkled after he'd pushed the wooden door open, he was expecting to see a slightly-older-look Kuroko Tetsuya standing behind the rosewood counter with his unreadable, blank expression.

However, what he wasn't expecting was to see a very familiar navy blue haired police officer who was leaning his side against said counter, his back to him.

"Aomine?"

The police officer glanced over his shoulder, and yes, he was indeed Aomine Daiki.

Aomine, his rival since high school, still had the very same short navy blue hair, prominent dark skin, sturdy body underneath the dark blue police uniform, and lowered brows over a pair of sharp dark blue eyes. When Aomine sidled away from the counter and planted himself firmer on the floor to glare at him, his movement was smooth like how Kagami used to remember.

"Che, it's just Bakagami."

Kagami's surprise was quickly replaced by anger at Aomine's remark. "Hey, who are you calling _Bakagami_?"

"Duh. You, of course. _Baka_~gami," scoffed Aomine condescendingly.

It seemed some things hadn't changed over time, Kagami thought; namely Aomine's asshole-ness and his own short-temper problem.

"Ahomine," Kagami shot back, annoyed.

"Baka."

"Aho."

"Says someone who can't even read hiragana."

"Says someone who can't even get one plus one right."

"Glutton bastard."

"Perverted bastard."

"Dumbass."

"Asshole."

"It's only been two seconds you both reunited after six years, yet you're already lashing out at each other," came a soft masculine voice between them. Kagami and Aomine looked down and found a pair of light blue eyes meeting their unflinchingly.

"The hell Kuroko?!" Kagami was the first to react (dramatically, too—he wasn't so happy to note that while Aomine simply cursed obscenities under his breath).

Kuroko Tetsuya kept a blank look—a perfect mirror of his innocent look when he'd first made his debut in the past—and placed the box he was carrying on the counter. He ran his fingers through his light blue hair and smoothened the creases in his barista uniform to make his appearance neater.

The scowl was back on Aomine's face. "Geez, Tetsu. Can't you grow some presence?"

"It wasn't my fault if you were too busy insulting each other," said the light blue haired barista, going to the other side of the counter.

"He started it first," Kagami pointed his finger to Aomine.

"I thought it was your name," Aomine rested his folded arms on the counter. "_Baka_~gami."

Kagami felt his vein throbbing. "Oh, I didn't know you've become senile and it affected your memory," his tone dripped sarcasm. "Maybe I should remind you again that my name is Kagami Taiga, _senile_-Mine."

"What the hell?" Aomine turned to him, going defensive all of a sudden.

"You heard me."

"I dare you repeat it, bastard."

"Oh, now you're deaf too? I feel sorry for you," Kagami pulled a smirk. He, too, readied himself for another fight, his crimson eyes narrowed at the pair of dark blue orbs menacingly.

"Children, please behave yourselves. You will disturb other customers," reprimanded Kuroko softly from behind the counter, grabbing them by the arm to prevent them from throwing punches at each other.

"Wait, what?! I'm not a child!" shouted Kagami and Aomine simultaneously.

Kuroko smiled. At least, it managed to whirl their attention away from each other. "So, prove me wrong. Stop this childish bickering."

"It was Bakagami's fault!" whined Aomine.

"Your fault!" Kagami pushed Aomine's shoulder.

"Hey—"

"You—"

"What did I say?" Kuroko cut in sternly, which earned him guttural growls from his childish lights. Kagami and Aomine looked away, pursing their lips into a pout.

A tiny smile made the corners of Kuroko's mouth curl. Being their shadow in the past; middle school with Aomine and high school with Kagami had taught Kuroko various methods to control their temper and stupidity.

"Please have a seat first," Kuroko told them. "I'll bring you coffee."

Kagami made a dark face. "Do I have to sit with this despicable guy?" he asked.

"Hey, this guy has a name," interrupted Aomine but it went unanswered.

"Please, Kagami-kun," said Kuroko, and there was a note of hope in his tone accompanied by sparkles in those light blue eyes. It made Kagami's wall crumble and he reluctantly acquiesced with a groan.

"Just stay away from me, Ahomine," muttered Kagami under his breath as he trudged to an empty table in the corner.

"You wish."

Kagami wished he could punch Aomine in the face right then.


	2. News are like wildfire

If someone asked Aomine to choose between a cup of coffee or tea, he'd refuse both and take soda or beer instead.

This time, however, that _someone_ was his best friend, Kuroko Tetsuya, who he had befriended since middle school and once had become his shadow. Despite his effeminate look, Kuroko had some tricks up his sleeve to achieve one-sided agreement even in a heated argument.

And in this case, his former shadow had requested him to come over to his workplace, and his soft tone had brooked no argument, much to Aomine's dismay. Aomine had decided to pay him a visit after his shift has ended.

That's how he caught himself in this predicament; he was staring at two cups of black coffee on the cocoa-coloured table and yes, Kagami Taiga who he hadn't seen for years now was sitting across the table with a frown on his face.

Kagami, who Aomine had acknowledged as the last member of the Generation of Miracles, now appeared taller (although Aomine was taller still), his black-crimson layered hair and eyebrows were weird as ever, and beneath his t-shirt, his muscular frame was obvious.

"You're gonna make your face uglier, Bakagami," he started.

"Better than your face still," replied Kagami with an eye roll.

"You're bragging. Kagami's bragging! Funny!"

"I learned that from you, bastard."

"Another yet childish bickering," said Kuroko suddenly, sliding into a chair next to Kagami's. His remark silenced them both. Kuroko flashed a small smile. "How are you, Kagami-kun?"

Kagami reclined on the chair. "Nothing awesome. Still in training programme. My lieutenant is planning to pull me into his team next month. How did you—"

"Pfft, _training_," Aomine cut in. He rested his chin in his cupped hand, bored.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko warned him before turning back to Kagami. "Congratulations, by the way," he gave Kagami a pat on his shoulder.

"How did you get my number?" asked Kagami. "I thought I haven't contacted anyone after I returned from LA."

"I got it from Himuro-san. I keep in touch with him because I need Murasakibara-kun's help with the cake recipes. Himuro-san informed me you've returned from LA last year, but I was so busy with my business and another important event I had no time to contact you at all."

"Busy?" Kagami lifted a brow.

"With his wedding," Aomine drummed his fingers on the table, casual as ever like he was walking about weather. He certainly didn't expect to see a very shocked look on Kagami's face; his crimson eyes wide and his mouth hanging open that Aomine had to hold back himself from reaching forward and snapping it close.

"You're married?!" Kagami bolted in surprise.

"No, Kagami-kun. At least not yet. I'm getting married — Aomine-kun, look what you've done," said Kuroko on a resigned sigh.

"Getting married?! To whom?" asked Kagami.

"To Satsuki," answered Aomine cynically. "Everyone knows it."

"Even Tatsuya?"

Aomine temporarily blinked clueless at the name. "Uh, I don't know who that guy is, but probably yeah. Everyone knows about their wedding."

"But you didn't tell me!" shouted Kagami, addressing this to his former shadow.

"Like what I've told you, I was very busy," Kuroko gave a light squeeze on Kagami's arm to calm him down. He briefly shot Aomine a glare.

"I didn't know texting me something like _'hey, me and Momoi-san are now dating and we're gonna get married soon'_ is a time-consuming process."

"Now you sound like an overprotective girlfriend," Aomine commented, although the wicked smirk on his face hadn't left. "How about I buy you some tampons?"

Kuroko ignored the comment. "It wasn't my intention to forget to tell you. It slipped from my mind. It's still better than a day before my wedding, isn't it?"

Kagami gave Kuroko a look, considering this.

"Please sit down, Kagami-kun," wheedled Kuroko with a pat on the wooden chair. "I promise you won't miss any details again."

"Fine," Kagami grumbled and sat again. "I'll hold you to that."

"Bakagami is pouting~" Aomine pointed out with an intention to rile him up again. It was so amusing to see Kagami turning red and gritting his teeth in anger.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko warned again, this time firmer.

"How's Momoi doing?" asked Kagami.

"Doing great. Now she's working from home as an interior designer. She designed this coffee house," Kuroko supplied, proud evident in his voice as he glanced around the coffee house.

Amazement lit in Kagami's eyes, mirroring his former shadow as well. "She did a great job. This place is awesome. I kinda like it."

Aomine peeked at his rival, watching the sparkles in Kagami's eyes that could have brightened up all of Tokyo like the stars in the black skies and quickly concealed the warm sensation in his stomach with an eye roll. "You should've seen Satsuki's face when she was designing this place. Like a witch on her period."

"Still worth it, I think," said Kagami. "Nothing is simple in this world. Kuroko, is she going to plan your wedding?"

"Satsuki-san will decide on our wedding theme. I'll do the planning with a little help from Kise-kun. Murasakibara-kun has offered himself to bake our wedding cake. I haven't heard anything from Akashi-kun and Midorima-kun, though."

"Wait a second. Speaking of which," Aomine held up his hand, brows knitted together into a frown. "I don't remember the wedding date."

"Actually, Aomine-kun, we haven't decided the exact date but the next spring sounds great to us," Kuroko suggested.

"So you have about a year to plan everything," said Kagami after he'd mentally calculated everything.

"Yes. That's why I decided to tell everything to Kagami-kun today."

There was a hint that Kuroko hadn't finished his words. Aomine and Kagami waited for him, their eyes locked on him anxiously. A slow love song filled in the air and another tinkle of bells was heard. Kuroko returned their gaze with a blank look.

Kuroko opened his mouth. Closed it. "We haven't decided whether to choose Aomine-kun or Kagami-kun as my best man."


End file.
